Oh my gosh, one more week til Christmas! It’s a busy time, but we can still be healthy, right?  What we do when life is hard/busy/stressful, that’s who we really are.

I’ve heard from more than a few people expressing sadness about weight gain, specifically, weight gain since Thanksgiving;  the dreaded Holiday 5 Pounds.  You’ve got a choice here, you either go with the line, ” I’ve already blown it, New Years Day is right around the corner, I’ll start new then.”  or this line,  “More vegetables, more fruit, more healthy fats and proteins; I’m going to plan the next few days well and get back on track because I don’t like feeling this way.”

Pick a line and go with it.  If it’s the second line, MEDITATE ON IT.  Choose your thoughts; quit letting a momentary whim lead to actions that make you feel horrible later.   Do this for me:  next time you want some food that’s not healthy, set a timer on your phone and see how long the desire lasts.  Unless you’re genuinely starving, Hunger Is Temporary.  Seriously.  If you turn out to still be starving in 15 minutes, evaluate what you ate at your last meal.  Was there enough fat, enough protein, enough vegetables, enough Real Whole Foods,  or did you do the “diet” thing and now you’re hungry?  Give your body the nutrients it needs, and that compulsive desire to eat will start to fade away.  Weight loss (if you need it) is a side-effect of eating healthy.

On a different note, I’m obsessed with DIY lotions – they’re so fun!  But that’s not why I’m making them;  I’m making them because the ingredient list for store bought lotions is gross, honestly.   Look at Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizer, it’s a Best Seller:  16,300 bottles are sold A DAY; that’s about $700,000 A DAY for just this product.

Here’s the ingredient list:

Water, Mineral Oil, Sesame Oil, Propylene Glycol, TEA Stearate, Glyceryl Stearate, Lanolin Alcohol, Petrolatum, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Yellow #5, Yellow #6, Red #33.   For the $38 – $46 you’ll shell out, here’s what you get:  dyes that the FDA say cause cancer (this would be the “transdermal” way to get cancer), Glyceryl Stearate, which is a petrochemical; the mineral oil and Petrolatum are inexpensive by-products of petroleum, and the two parabens?  They’re estrogenic (that means it mimics estrogen), carcinogenic, and allergenic.  Think I’m exaggerating because dangerous products aren’t allowed to be sold to the public?  Think again.

Fact check your products with EWG’s site, skin deep to see what they contain; or look here.

Here’s a lotion I’ve been making from the wellness mama site, talk about luxurious!

1/2 c olive or almond oil            

1/4 c coconut oil

1/4 c beeswax (beeswax is cool!)

1 tbsp vitamin E oil

2 tbsp cocoa butter  and/or

2 tbsp shea butter

essential oils.   I’ve used Peppermint, Vanilla, Sweet Orange, Frankensense, and Neem, so far.

Directions:  put a pot on the stove that has 2-3″ of water in it and turn the heat to med-high.  Place all the ingredients in a mason jar, and then place the jar in the hot water. Stir til everything’s melted, then add your essential oils.   After that, you can redistribute to smaller jars, like I did, or keep it in the one jar.

Some of you might be thinking I’ve crossed a line. First, I’ve been asking you to plan, shop, cook and pack;  now I’m saying personal care products need to be made in the kitchen.  I SWEAR I’M NOT SAYING THAT!!  I’m just planting a seed.  I know better than anyone that sometimes, changes need to be made slowly.  But true Growth, becoming a better person, that’s always a goal, right?  I want to feel good, energetic, vibrant, alive – you do too, I know it!  What we put on our body is just as important as what we put in our body. Those chemicals from the personal care products,  they’re through the skin and in our blood stream in seconds.   Just a little seed.  ( a mustard seed.)

Let me finish with the three quotes for the week:

* “Most of us have practiced doing things the wrong way for years, we can’t expect everything to turn around in a few weeks.”  Joyce Meyers

* “Change your thoughts and you change your world.” Norman Vincent Peale

* “Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life.”  Golda Meir